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Goodwill Industries of North Central Wisconsin Inc. has long embraced the concept of one-stop shopping at its Menasha campus, and the excitement has rubbed off in downtown Appleton.

Neighboring, connected sites there with ties to Goodwill — the Fox Cities Rotary Multicultural Center, Harmony Cafe and the American Indian Center of the Fox Valley — are drawing ideas from the campus in Menasha, where at least 27 nonprofit agencies offer services under one roof."

On-line charities are a perfect place to see how people help the world, and inspire you to join a good cause.

It isn't hard to see that a lot of people, animals, and the environment in general are being neglected in our world today. That's not to say that a lot of things haven't been improved over time as well. As I come from one of the few wealthy nations, I can witness daily both the extravagances of greed and the injustice of poverty, "

TCPalm : 12 charities will share space at an Indiantown facility: "12 charities will share space at an Indiantown facility
The charities were offered almost 9,000 square feet of space.
By Ike Crumpler
staff writer
June 24, 2005
INDIANTOWN � Nonprofits have a problem securing space to supply social services, while contending with commercially competitive overhead. Thanks to Indiantown Non Profit Housing, Martin County's agencies have forged a solution.
Twelve charities will share space and expenses at the Community Service Center at 15518 S.W. Osceloa St., but the arrangement began with Indiantown Non Profit Housing. "

The massive response to the tsunami relief appeal has not affected the income of most other charities, according to a report.

Charities were concerned when the tsunami appeal was at its height in December and January that they would suffer significant losses in cash as the public channelled their money away from traditional charities and donated to the tsunami appeal."

For this week's bloggerview, we caught up with Michael Gilbert, who writes the Nonprofit Online News, which is not only the oldest nonprofit-oriented blog, but one of the oldest blogs altogether. Michael shared some insights into his writing discipline and practice, content filtering approaches, and observations of blogging by and about nonprofits. "

The Canadian telemarketing industry needs to pay close attention to how a national �do-not-call� list will be prepared here, or risk suffering, as has its U.S. counterpart, an American expert said yesterday in Halifax.Peter Johnson, a senior executive with the New York-based DIrect Marketing Association, an industry lobby group, said a similar �do not call law in the U.S. has devastated the telemarketing industry, mostly from unexpected consequences.�Weren�t paying attention to costs�"

Looking for a steady job? Pick up an application at your nearest nonprofit office.

In Indiana, the number of jobs at universities, hospitals and social services are growing, and they tend to weather economic hardship better than for-profit or government work, an Indiana University study found.

Released this month, the findings said nonprofit employment grew more than 5 percent between 2000 and 2003, outstripping government jobs, which grew by almost 3 percent, and leaving for-profit employment, which fell almost 6 percent, in the dust. The I.U. School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the Center on Philanthropy at I.U. conducted the study."

The Chronicle: 6/9/2005: Creative Compensation: "Creative Compensation
From theater tickets to lemonade parties, nonprofit managers offer innovative incentives to lift morale
By Jeffrey Klineman
It has been said that an army runs on its stomach. If that's the case, then the scientists who battle pathologies at the Rothberg Institute for Childhood Diseases, a nonprofit medical-research facility in Guilford, Conn., are ready for a long, long fight."

His pledged donations were so lavish that the Royal Opera House named its new atrium after him. Now Alberto Vilar is accused of theft, writes David Teather, and the opera world is unsure if he was a sham

Alberto Vilar must be wondering how it came to this. A Cuban-American financier once valued by Forbes Magazine at $950m (�520m), he has been lauded as one of the world's leading philanthropists, having pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to support the arts, universities and medical centres across the world. The sums are eye-popping: in recent years his pledges have included $45m to the New York Metropolitan Opera, $50m to the Kennedy Arts Center in Washington, $14m to the Los Angeles Opera. In Britain, he is well known in the arts community for a pledge of �10m to the Royal Opera House, a donation which was acclaimed for saving the opera and which prompted a grateful Covent Garden to name its striking glass atrium the Vilar Floral Hall. "

By Morgan KellyStaff writerCharleston Area Medical Center was among 2,000 nonprofits to receive an inquiry from the Internal Revenue Service about its financial dealings with �people in a position of power,� according to a CAMC administrator.The survey is part of an initiative begun last year to root out nonprofits that use their tax-exempt status to pay executives huge salaries and excessive benefits, according to the IRS.The CAMC inquiry regarded executive compensation � such as salaries and fringe benefits � for executives as well as contracts between employees, board members and CAMC, said Larry Hudson, the health system�s"

Believe it or not, there are people who don't think that the only way for Silicon Valley and Hollywood to get together is through technology.
Jeff Skoll, the billionaire former president of eBay, and actor Robert Redford have teamed up for projects designed around philanthropy and filmmaking. One of the results gets a national unveiling starting Tuesday: ``The New Heroes'' documentary series for PBS stations"

Pols who skipped important budget work for a Cape Cod representative's ``charity'' golf tournament were playing to raise money for a scholarship fund that has yet to be set up.

State Rep. Demetrius Atsalis' invitation billed the weekday golf junket as his ``annual charitable golf outing,'' but his spokesman admitted yesterday that money raised will not go to charity, but instead will go toward a proposed fund in the pol's name.

Thirty-two people representing groups with an interest in philanthropy attended a workshop to learn about pooling money into 'community foundations' in order to fund projects enhancing the quality of life in South Jersey.
Not to be confused with private foundations, community foundations promote philanthropy within an identified region by investing funds and supporting critical needs. They also evaluate needs, collaborate with nonprofits, and ensure that donations are used "

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Md. Senators Question Use Of Funds By Nonprofit: "Md. Senators Question Use Of Funds By Nonprofit
By Matthew Mosk
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 22, 2005; Page A09
U.S. Sens. Paul S. Sarbanes and Barbara Mikulski have asked federal officials to investigate whether a Maryland oyster recovery group used public money to pay for a recent opinion survey that read in parts like a political poll.
The Annapolis-based Oyster Recovery Partnership spent $20,000 on the survey, but officials in the administration of Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) selected the polling firm and worked closely with the nonprofit group to prepare the 150 questions."

PERHAPS he was always too good to be true. Perhaps the Royal Opera House was always too trusting when it named its Floral Hall and Young Artists scheme after a Cuban-American who appeared from nowhere with promises of donations running into millions.
But if Covent Garden was guilty of taking Alberto Vilar at face value, so, too, was the Metropolitan Opera in New York, which accepted pledged donations of $45 million (�25 million) from the opera-mad stock-market tipster. And the Kennedy Arts Centre in Washington ($50 million). And Carnegie Hall ($5 million). And Los Angeles Opera ($14 million). And many of Europe�s leading opera houses, from the Kirov to La Scala. "

Charities in Indianapolis spend more on administration and fundraising than their peers elsewhere in the country, a national group says.

Out of 25 cities studied by the nonprofit rating group Charity Navigator, Indianapolis charities as a whole ranked third-highest in median administrative expenses, fourth-highest in fundraising expenses, and lowest in spending for programs when compared with charities of similar size elsewhere

Millionaires and even billionaires are emerging with China�s market economy boom. With a staggering amount of wealth under their belt, what have they done for the welfare of society?Three institutions under the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) including the China Association of Social Workers (CASW) published a list of top philanthropists on the Chinese mainland on April 26. Shortly before, Rupert Hoogewerf, the British accountant famous for his ranking of the Chinese rich launched six years ago, released his charity ranking, called 2005 China Philanthropy List. In addition, the Chinese edition of Forbes magazine also published another ranking of China�s generous donors on May 10.

The $16 million is for health care for rescuers and others. N.Y. Democrats criticized federal officials.By Karen MatthewsAssociated Press

NEW YORK - The American Red Cross announced $16 million in World Trade Center health-care grants yesterday, while Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and other New York lawmakers said the federal government had reneged on promises to help first responders to the trade center.'It's hard to imagine that we can't get the help that we need,' said Clinton (D., N.Y.), who was joined by Red Cross officials and Democratic Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Carolyn B. Maloney at the headquarters of the Red Cross' New York chapter."

ThirdSector: "Fundraising News: Children's charity tests out 'circular' fundraising modelThe NSPCC is piloting an American method of fundraising that aims to build a base of passionate and committed lifelong donors.

It is based on a fundraising system created by Terry Axelrod, the founder of US-based organisation Raising More Money, who is touring the UK this week to promote the model.

Axelrod has called his system 'a circular organic process to build lifelong relationships with donors'. "

In our grandmothers' day, many women's gift to social, health, arts and education causes was time -- the main way average individuals could give.
What a change!
The past decade or so, women have stepped up in a big way to also donate expertise and money, much gained via better careers and personal investments.
Washington Women's Foundation, with some 400 members, is playing a huge role in that change, especially in this state. Not only does it educate women on groups they're helping (site visits are a must), but it also helps women -- many with average resources -- pool their money and vote on how to spend the big gifts."

Psychology Today: Philanthropy: What Gives?: "Good boys and girls eagerly anticipate gifts aplenty every holiday season, but we grownups are also expected to give at Christmastime, as the torrent of mail from the nation�s 1.5 million non-profit organizations and charities constantly reminds us. With the economy still weak and government handouts declining, donor dollars are hard to come by, and charities will be pulling out all the stops. So in a time of pinched pocketbooks, how do you get people to give away their cash?"

Untitled Document: "
snip snip>
THE IMPORTANCE OF VIRTUE
Researchers told 115 participants that they would be entered into a $200 lottery as part of their compensation for a study. All participants answered questions to determine the importance of virtue to their self-esteem. Half were then asked questions about the prospect of their own deaths, while a control group was asked questions about dental pain.
The researchers then asked each person to indicate how much of the $200 lottery prize they would be willing to donate to a charity if they won.
The experiment demonstrated that charitable giving and virtuous behavior are influenced by salience -- thoughts -- of death in men and women. Participants for whom virtue is an important source of self-esteem offered significantly higher donations (an average of $65) when mortality was more salient than when it was not (an average of $34.50) and also reported significantly higher intentions to engage in socially conscious consumer behaviors when mortality thoughts were elevated. "

TODAYonline: "When a doll is a priceless giftSingaporeans are known for their generosity in donating to charity..Some people volunteer while others quietly move tonnes of food, medicine and used clothing through South-east Asia, India, Sri Lanka, Mongolia and Africa. Others go to remote places to attend to the hygiene of children..Yet, sometimes, there are terrible frustrations. Such as those of a Today letter-writer who found that donations were being stolen from a Salvation Army collection box at her condominium..

Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Artistic endeavors around the country are operating with tighter purse strings, a spokesman for a national arts advocacy group said. And while the $438,000 Texas Shakespeare Festival is in a similar situation, those involved with the five-week event that begins Thursday at Kilgore College say it's surviving.
'We're doing fine, thank you very much,' said Raymond Caldwell, TSF founder and artistic director. 'The area citizens have stepped up to the plate, and they have managed to find the money we needed every year.'
For five years in a row beginning in 1999, Kilgore College cut its contribution to the festival. The highest amount was about $300,000, Caldwell said. Four years ago, the college put a cap at $150,000. Two years later, the cap was dropped to $125,000. "

Germans may be hard hit by their struggling economy, but they don't cut corners when it comes to charitable giving. They donated in record numbers after the Asian tsunami six months ago.

When television images of the devastating tsunami in Southeast Asia entered living rooms on Dec. 26 last year, Elke S.' (who wished to remain anonymous) first thought was: 'How can I help?'

The 61-year-old from Worms in southern Germany got together with fellow members of the National Union of German Housewives' Associations, a nationwide organization involved in charitable causes, collected 1,800 euros ($2,180) and handed it to an aid group heading to Sri Lanka. "

Monday, June 20, 2005

20 June 2005 16:54
The American Ireland Fund has announced over $10 million in financial support for 300 charities and community groups on the island of Ireland.
The funding is made up of grants and direct philanthropic donations.
It will be used to support a wide range of initiatives with a focus on programmes addressing peace and reconciliation and mental health and suicide"

Sametz Blackstone's Transformation of the Fuller Craft Museum Leads to a Surge in Memberships and Soaring Attendance

BOSTON & BROCKTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 20, 2005--Just one year after Sametz Blackstone Associates, a Boston-based strategic communications consulting firm, helped transform the Fuller Craft Museum's brand, exhibit openings that used to attract 50 people now draw up to 1,000. Loans from private collections have been flowing in so fast that they need to be divided into separate shows. Memberships have surged forward by 44 percent and development activity is increasing rapidly. Fuller Craft, while building on its commitment to its home community of Brockton, Massachusetts, is quickly becoming a museum of national and international standing.

theedgedaily.com: "Unique race for charity returnsBy Joseph ChinThe unique race for charity is back! The Kuala Lumpur Rat Race� returns on Aug 9 for its sixth year and will benefit 10 charitable organisations as it did last year. This time, the event will be known as The Edge� � Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Rat Race�, with Bursa Malaysia coming on board as co-organiser.Donations collected from participating local and foreign companies in Malaysia will be channelled towards these beneficiaries involved in various causes. Last year, 75 teams took time out to run for a good cause and helped raise a record-breaking RM667,500. "

Nonprofit organizations, the people who run them and those who regulate them are the focus of a journalism workshop at the University of Mississippi through Monday.

About 45 journalists and experts on the nonprofit sector have gathered in Oxford for the Fourth Estate and the Third Sector workshop, the fourth since 2002. The purpose of the training is to make sense of America's tax-exempt community.

Ole Miss journalism professor Burnis Morris, founding director of the Fourth Estate and the Third Sector, predicts that by the end of the workshop, participants will have broadened their understanding of an important community that many journalists know little about."

More churches can't put faith in collection plates - PittsburghLIVE.com: "The 11-member staff at the First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh dodged a bullet this year. The board of trustees went out of its way to avoid laying some of them off. 'Laying people off was the last thing we wanted to do. We borrowed from our endowment,' said Kurt Summersgill, president of the 10-member board. The church's congregation approved the move so the full- and part-time employees -- from pastor to choir director to custodian -- could keep working.

IN recent years a mini-industry of regulators has been unleashed on the business community. This has seen the establishment of such bodies as the Office of the Director for Corporate Enforcement, the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority, and the forthcoming Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority. At the same time, the Revenue Commissioners have been afforded new and stringent powers. "

Visitors to Norwalk and Stamford hospitals' gift shops will not find any cigars or smokeless tobacco products made by William Ziegler III's company, Swisher International. As one Norwalk Hospital staffer said: 'Smoking is banned here.'Even though Swisher's famous Sweets may not be allowed, Ziegler's money certainly appeals to both hospitals' sweet spots. The facilities in recent weeks announced they had each received million-dollar donations from the Darien resident and his family to be used for information technology initiatives to improve patient care."

By ANN COLIN HERBSTPublished: June 19, 2005Mary K. Vinton, director of development for the Greenwich Library in Greenwich, Conn., has a problem: she is looking for a fund-raiser - specifically, a full-time development associate to join a two-person team. The most recent holder of the job stayed less than a year, and before that the position was vacant for three months.

STAMFORD, Conn. -- Some anti-smoking advocates say Norwalk and Stamford hospitals should have refused large donations from the chief executive of a Connecticut-based cigar company.

William Ziegler III, chairman of Darien-based Swisher International, which makes cigars and smokeless tobacco, recently donated $1 million to each hospital to be used for information technology to improve patient care.

John Banzhaf, executive director and chief counsel for Washington, D.C.-based Action on Smoking and Health, said the two hospitals should have turned down the gifts. "

Known for producing classic plays by Ibsen, Chekhov, and Shakespeare, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis didn't originally set out to put outrageous costumes on the backs of rowdy revelers at Mardi Gras or Halloween.
But costs upwards of $30,000 per year for costume storage led managers at the historic theater to think outside the box, or closet, as the case may be. Result: a three-year-old costume-rental business that not only pays for all storage costs but also generates extra cash flow for the Guthrie and its business partner, the Children's Theater Company."

The Chronicle, 6/23/2005: Giving Ticks Upward: "The signs that fund raising is recovering along with the U.S. economy have persuaded many nonprofit groups to become more ambitious. Paulette Maehara, president of the Association of Fundraising Professionals -- which represents nearly 27,000 fund raisers -- says that in recent months she has heard from more and more nonprofit institutions that are hiring new fund raisers, starting capital campaigns, or both.
'It is hard to talk to a university or health-care provider that is not in a campaign,' she says. 'There are absolutely more campaigns being launched in 2004 and 2005 compared to 2002 and 2003.' "

The Council on Foundations - Inaugural Private Foundation Investment Performance And Asset Allocation Survey: "Inaugural Private Foundation Investment Performance And Asset Allocation Survey
To meet the informational and benchmarking needs of its private foundation members who are not of sufficient size to belong to the Foundation Financial Officers Group (FFOG) and benefit from that group's survey, the Council on Foundations has launched an annual survey of asset allocation and investment performance of its 700 or so private foundation members with assets of $5 million or more.
The survey, which was mailed to Council members June 13, requests 2004 investment performance data, along with historical data for 2002 and 2003. It also requests asset allocation information for 2004."

The Council on Foundations - Inaugural Private Foundation Investment Performance And Asset Allocation Survey: "Inaugural Private Foundation Investment Performance And Asset Allocation Survey
To meet the informational and benchmarking needs of its private foundation members who are not of sufficient size to belong to the Foundation Financial Officers Group (FFOG) and benefit from that group�s survey, the Council on Foundations has launched an annual survey of asset allocation and investment performance of its 700 or so private foundation members with assets of $5 million or more.
The survey, which was mailed to Council members June 13, requests 2004 investment performance data, along with historical data for 2002 and 2003. It also requests asset allocation information for 2004."